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The haymakers came early, but it was the body punches that did the damage.

Quarterback Brett Hundley and UCLA made its season a whole lot more palatable by slicing through USC, 35-14, at the Coliseum on Saturday, winning twice in a row in the series for the first time since 1997-98.

While the Bruins (9-3) relish their 30th victory in the series, they also await the news of their bowl bid, most likely the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31.

The intrigue cuts a little deeper for the Trojans (9-4), who went 6-2 after Ed Orgeron replaced Lane Kiffin as head coach. USC has a good shot at playing in the Dec. 21 Las Vegas Bowl, but the Trojans fans are far more interested in what decision Athletic Director Pat Haden will make as he contemplates removing the interim tag from Orgeron or choosing a different candidate.

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Orgeron’s only two defeats came to rivals Notre Dame and UCLA, but the Trojans were riding a wave of momentum, particularly after knocking off Stanford on Nov. 16.

After a slow start against USC’s strong defensive line, Hundley completed 18 of 27 passes for 208 yards and also ran for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

Running back Buck Allen, emerging as a star for USC, rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown, but the Trojans never got their passing game moving consistently behind quarterback Cody Kessler.

The Bruins lost guard Caleb Benenoch early in the first quarter when he was ejected for dishing out a punch to the facemask of J.R. Tavai. It didn’t seem to bother UCLA’s thinning offensive line.

The Trojans, though, lost two starters on the offensive line. Center Marcus Martin, a team captain, went down on USC’s third play with what appeared to be a left knee injury. Early in the third quarter, guard Aundrey Walker went down and also had to leave the field on a cart.

Once UCLA got the punches and jitters out of its system, the Bruins went to work methodically picking USC apart.

Using swing passes, bubble screens and sideline passes, Hundley spread the Trojans out and never let USC’s advantage along the defensive line to take hold. In fact, it began to frustrate the Trojans.

When USC had coverage, it couldn’t contain Hundley, who slithered through gaps for long scrambles that kept drives alive.

The Bruins struck on consecutive drives to take a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. Hundley rushed for 25 yards and completed two passes for 24 yards on the first march that ended with Myles Jack’s 3-yard run for the first score.

Jack, however, was back at his usual linebacker spot for the most part.

Back-to-back sacks of Kessler by Cassius March killed the next USC possession, then Hundley took over again. He went 4-for-4 for 66 yards to give UCLA a first down at the 1-yard line. With Jack in the game at halfback, Hundley instead handed to fullback Eddie Vanderdoes for the touchdown and it was 14-0.

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USC answered with its running game and Allen became a force. Allen carried six times for 44 yards and scored on an 11-yard run to make it 14-7 at halftime.

The third quarter was a repeat of the first half, only this time Hundley finished the drives himself with scoring runs of 12 and 5 yards. The first one came on third down after Hundley’s apparent touchdown pass to Devin Lucien was reviewed and overturned when it was ruled that Lucien came down with the catch out of bounds.

Down 28-14, the Trojans were driving and Kessler had scrambled to complete a pass to Allen, who juggled it and dropped it for a fumble. Jack recovered and UCLA had its opportunity to put the game away.

The Bruins’ offense couldn’t do it but the defense did and sealed matters when linebacker Anthony Barr blitzed and stripped Kessler of the ball, with Marsh recovering at the USC 38 with 5:53 left in the game.

That helped set up Paul Perkins’ 8-yard scoring run with 3:30 left. Perkins also caught three passes for 79 yards for the Bruins.